In cellular networks, it is known to provide various kinds of application services. Conventionally, such application services are provided by an application server, and a user may access such application services through a user equipment (UE) connected to the cellular network.
In this connection, an idea that is gaining increased attention is the possibility to deploy a cloud platform for application services closer to the users in cellular networks, in particular in a radio access network (RAN) part of the cellular network. Such cloud platform may be implemented by multiple application service platforms distributed over different sites in the RAN. Accordingly, when the UE is connected to a given access node of the RAN, the application service platform which is closest to this access node may be utilized for providing the application services to the UE. This may help to reduce the amount of transport network bandwidth required for the traffic associated with the application services. Further, also a better user experience may be achieved, e.g., by allowing for reduced roundtrip delays or smart interactions between the cloud platform and network elements.
When using such distributed application service platforms, the mobility of the UE in the cellular network raises some issues. For example, an ongoing session of an application service established by a UE may need to be migrated to another application service platform when the UE moves within the cellular network. Further, an appropriate application service platform may need to be selected when the UE newly initiates a session of an application service. For example due to variations in the number and types of supported application services at the various distributed application service platforms, this may be a complex task.
Accordingly, there is a need for techniques which allow for efficiently supporting the utilization of application services provided by application service platforms in a cellular network.